Ulee's Gold Page #5

---

Yeah.

Jesus.

- Is it all twenties?

- Yeah.

Well, I ain't complaining, man.

Yeah!

Oh, man!

New Orleans, Las Vegas.

Maybe Acapulco.

F***!

You want me to cut him, Eddie?

- Just tell me where.

- Neither of us needed that gun, Eddie.

You got the money. Just get on back.

No, Ferris. We need him

to get the f*** outta here.

Let's pack this up.

Let's move it.

Come on!

You're chicken, that's it.

That's what?

Why you didn't just take the gun.

Ulysses Jackson.

You haven't done much with your life,

have you, Mr. Jackson?

Meeting someone like you, Eddie,

has done me a world of good.

I don't get it.

It reminds me that there's

all kinds of weakness in the world.

Not all of it is evil.

I forget that from time to time.

Yeah?

You're full of crap.

Eddie, you got the keys?

You take care now, Mr. Jackson.

Later, Ulee.

That's for that stunt

back there at the swamp.

Thanks for your help.

I hope you're still glad you ran into me.

Yes!

Crap! Eddie, what do we do?

Just stay calm.

The gun!

- Why'd you let Ulee lose the gun?

- Ferris, just stay calm.

Evening, Sheriff. How you doing?

Eddie. Eddie Flowers.

And Ferris Dooley.

I don't believe it.

Been a long time.

Yeah.

- What you boys been doing?

- Nothing.

We were just passing through.

We thought we'd take a quick spin

around for old time's sake.

You got a bad brake light, you know that?

Gosh, no, I sure didn't.

We'll take care of that as soon as we can.

- Here you go.

- Thank you, sir.

- Where'd you say you fellas are headed?

- Orlando. Back to Orlando.

That your cooler?

- No.

- Yeah.

- What you been keeping in it?

- It's his.

Just snacks, you know,

drinks for the road.

Looks like it's been in the water forever.

Do you mind if we...

open it up, take a look inside?

The fact is, we found it

on the side of the road.

I was gonna report it, sir.

I swear.

There's a whole lot of money in it.

You'd be amazed.

Be still.

You're on my turf now.

I guess I'm not dead, then.

You're fooling a lot of folks, if you are.

Here.

Roll over. I gotta check your bandage.

Come on.

Good thing you can't see that.

Does that feel better?

How's the shoulder?

My fault.

I got cocky.

Don't get him excited, Bill.

I'll be back in a minute.

You were cut pretty bad.

Why do you suppose

Eddie and Ferris went after you?

I haven't a clue.

I always knew those boys were trouble.

Now it turns out they're thieves as well.

They're the ones who ran with Jimmy.

Did you know that?

I had my suspicions.

Jimmy sure put himself and us

through a lot of extra grief...

not ratting on those boys.

I could never figure if he was really

standing up for his buddies...

or whether he had

some long-range plan in mind...

like the bank money.

But now it turns out these guys

had the money all along.

Well, they probably came back...

figured enough time had gone by.

They told some wild story about...

you giving it to 'em,

that you were in on it all the time.

But I knew better.

It turns out there are

three warrants out on those boys.

Now, you add grand theft

and assault with a deadly weapon...

that should be enough to put 'em away

for a long while.

Let me know when they get out.

They're not friendly.

I still can't figure out...

since they had all that money

hidden away...

why they bothered messing with you.

I didn't know anything

until last week, Bill...

and I wasn't sure exactly what to do.

Must've been they wanted

some of your honey.

You get well now, you hear?

We were on the pier.

Panama City, spring break.

He's a lot cuter than this.

I'm sure he is,

but is he treating you right?

I'm not taking any crap from him,

if that's what you mean.

That's good.

You tell him your old man

might be getting out next year.

He's gonna have an ex-con on his case

if he ever messes up.

- Is that true?

- As much as these things can be.

It's still a hell of a long time.

I know.

How are you feeling?

Fine.

With my shoulder and all,

I fell behind a spell, but...

Charley Myers did a good job

helping me get caught up.

And the bees?

Hell, mites are choking 'em...

insecticides are killing 'em...

the drought's starving 'em.

They're fine.

Think there might be something

for me to do back there?

With you?

I don't know, Jimmy.

The future of bees

isn't too clear right now.

That stuff about the mites

and all is true.

Anything would be grand compared

to what I'll be coming from.

I'll start up an increase yard

this summer.

I hope I can remember how to work.

Good job.

What's up?

Nothing, Ulee.

It's just girl talk.

You wouldn't understand.

Looks good.

Yeah.

Hello, Buckshot.

Come on in.

Don't you ever stop?

There's always something.

I usually...

Thanks, Connie.

Thanks for everything.

Thank you, Ulee.

Sounds like everything's all right.

Helen and the girls

are making up for lost time.

- That's good.

- And I feel like an old drone.

They don't need me now.

At least, not like before.

Poor Ulee. Must be hard.

Sorry.

How about supper?

Beats a TV dinner.

What's so special about

this tupelo honey of yours, anyway?

First, it's very...

very rare...

and it never crystallizes,

no matter how long it's left out.

In the whole world...

only the rivers and swamps

along this area...

allow the trees enough isolation...

to give pure tupelo.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes